While many brands in the luxury sector have rebounded from their pandemic losses in record time, the mid-market sector have seen countless casualties. The resilience of heritage brands, however, offers some optimism for the future of retail.

Rosy Temple, CEO of Magee 1866 Clothing & Retail – as heritage a brand as it gets – has cause for quiet confidence. Founded by “cousin” John Magee over 150 years ago, Temple is a fifth-generation scion in an Irish business that combines weaving, wholesale and retail. She works alongside her sister Charlotte, the design director, and brother Patrick, CEO of Magee Weaving. The brand employs 80 staff and supplies over 200 independent retailers in Ireland and the UK. It includes three retail stores, the original in Donegal, one in South Anne St in Dublin, and a concession in Arnotts.

“It’s been undeniably challenging. In our long history, we’ve never had such periods of retail closure. And while those were all for the right reasons, due to the pandemic, they resulted in an immediate decline in revenue from our own stores, and from the stores that we supply, and it was a global effect, but we’ve come through that and are now very much looking forward,” Temple said.

Consumer demand prompted business development and a focus on a more comprehensive lifestyle brand. “Without occasions like weddings and without people going to offices, there was a downturn in structured tailoring goods, but there was a huge uptake in our casual wear, our shirts and jumpers and particularly in our home accessories, our throws and our cushions. So that’s been great to see an element of that lifestyle collection being looked at and now coming out of that, we’re seeing this sort of pent-up appetite for tailoring alongside our casual,” she said.

Brexit is undoubtedly compounding the challenges. “We are working on finding solutions around that and are confident we will,” she says. “A family businesses is about resilience, and it’s about pushing through, and that sounds a little bit martyr like, but it’s about having that depth of resilience to work through these circumstances that are thrown up in trade, and Brexit is one of those.”

Temple in the middle

It’s a lot for a first-time CEO in the top job less than a year before the world was brought to its knees by Covid-19. But Temple has strong support. She has taken over from her father Lynn, who has remained on as chairman, and she works alongside her siblings.

“My brother’s the inventor, the ideas man and my sister brings real flair and with flair comes passion, and I guess I’m the middle ground. And so, you know the family dynamic is really strong. We’ve great trust in each other. It’s really special. Working life takes up so much time and to have the opportunity to share that is actually amazing,” she says before adding the disclaimer: “Not at 9am on a Saturday morning if my brother tackles me about some idea or a piece of machinery, I try and draw the line then.”

Temple studied Arts in the UK before working for Christie’s followed by a stint at food start-up Rebel Kitchen. “As a teenager, I hadn’t looked towards working the family business, and Dad was always very open, there was never any pressure to join, but by default, all three siblings went off to different things. And then there’s this kind of atavistic pull to come back.” 

Her experience at Christie’s offered an insight into the luxury sector, “the quality element, their global reach, and the infrastructure around that”. Meanwhile, Rebel Kitchen gave insight into “startup mentality – being really hungry for sales, but also making sure that you have methods and structure in place, and you can apply that to a family business, which has older structures, but stress testing if those are fit for right now.”

Sustainable fashion

As a B Corp company, the latter placed huge emphasis on the environment which has inspired her approach to Magee 1866.

“We’re a family business with this rich weaving and design heritage. And we’re challenged by what fashion and textile brands can do about this really complicated question around the environment? And for us, our foundation is on long-lasting, high quality goods, and that emphasis on slow fashion,”she says.

“Our main raw material being wool, which is biodegradable, it’s renewable and there’s good traceability, so we feel we have that excellent starting point, but now it’s about delving deeper and looking at our multiple parts; from energy usage, to the site itself to product, how can we better it? We’ve been reviewing our packaging and looking at working with suppliers. The first step being that our packaging is recyclable. And the second step being that it is made of recycled materials.

“And so we’re on that journey, and it’s not going to be short-term, but if someone was to ask me, ‘what do you feel the legacy of the fifth generation will be?’ It’s about ensuring that we leave a business that’s really fit for purpose within that environmental place, and we find a way to do business with the least impact. That’s a challenge but it’s possible, and one that we’re committed to.”

Reintroducing Irish wool is a major project undertaken by the business under Temple’s leadership that she hopes will have a positive impact on the future of the company. “We would have had a lot of Irish wool used in our fabrics up to the 40s and 50s. And then there was a move away from that towards some of the softer handled yarns from from Australia and New Zealand, and a couple of years ago we wanted to see if we could start to reincorporate some Irish wool within our collections. So that’s something that we’ve been working with Donegal Yarns, a local yarn supplier, and also with a local farmer as well. Looking ahead to seeing a really key traceability story and to incorporate using some of that Irish wool within our collections, alongside other sources.

“I think it is a collective business responsibility in whatever sector, you’re involved in so I think the more businesses that look on this area, the better it will be and the stronger the messaging will come through to the consumer as well. Yeah, it’s about looking at long-term solutions, and recognising some of the challenges, and that it will take time to work towards that circular economy and a set of principles.”

The future of retail

Recent change in consumer behaviour has reinforced the vision. “For us we see bricks and mortar and online, they’re not mutually exclusive. They can work together. Consumers are tuned in to having dual shopping experiences, so we see that as a positive. We have seen in our own retail and both in some of the excellent independent retailers that we supply to in Ireland, local market, there has been a great uptake in the regional areas with the staycation, particularly last summer and this summer. And now we are seeing Dublin starting to recover. And I think it’s positive to see some of the pedestrianisation of streets, and to make sure that shopping is a safe and also enjoyable experience,” according to Temple.

The emphasis on e-commerce and push to Buy Irish was particularly encouraging. “We saw a really positive uptake from Irish consumers that hadn’t shopped necessarily with us before.” The response confirmed the brand’s direction. “We really want to be looking at thrashing out our five-year plan towards decarbonisation, people, product, that whole model around the circular economy. And then our collections, it’s about making sure that we are drawing through that really beautiful heritage in our fabrics in particular, but making sure that we’re relevant for today and tomorrow’s consumer. So that we become a globally recognised brand for the future.”

While Temple may be the first female CEO of the company, it’s a title she’d rather not dwell on. “My dad has been a real source of inspiration and mentor. He has always taken on people, be they family or non-family based on their credentials, within a work environment and how suitable they are they for the job, no matter what their gender. And that follows through to us. While I’m all for pushing for more females in a business environment, I think we need to look beyond these gender labels and ask can the person do [the job] and get on with it?”

Guiding a fifth-generation business through these turbulent years is onerous, but Temple likes a challenge (she has cycled solo around Patagonia for fun). “I think it’s a responsibility, but also I feel very fortunate. And so it’s making sure that we are innovators for the next generation, and that we don’t just accept the status quo, that we push to develop the brand further, and we don’t have any sense of resting on laurels. But you know you need that energy, and you need the team behind you as well, we need that expertise, it’s not just about the family, it’s about the team that we’re working with.”